Germany Legalises Online Gambling

April 6, 2020April 6, 2020
by Casino.zone

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Germany Legalises Online Gambling

German fans of online casinos will no doubt be rejoicing that from July 2, 2021, playing online casino games, including online poker, will be legal. The proposed legislation was approved in March by the heads of the 16 German states. The legislation was approved after a trial sports betting regulatory regime which began at the start of 2020. This experimental regime will continue to be in effect until June 30th 2021, allowing gambling to continue to be legal until the permanent legislation comes into effect in July.

This is the first time German law has included online casino games and sports betting since they began regulating online gambling through the Third State Treaty on Gambling.

Heavy Restrictions Will Still Apply

Although this is a huge step forward for Germany in terms of easing their gambling laws, heavy restrictions will still apply.

For example, the current legislation does not include in-play sports betting and online slots will have strict restrictions for their max bet allowance.

Other gambling features which encourage higher stakes betting will be banned, such as auto-play slots.

Even companies with a valid gambling license will be unable to air advertisements on German television between the hours of 6 am and 9 pm.

Germany Will Introduce A New Gambling Regulator

It was decided by the 16 German heads of state that the country’s new gambling regulator will be based in Sachsen-Anhalt.

The Glücksspielneuregulierungstaatsvertrag (GlüNeuRStv) which expands the legal Germany online gambling laws beyond their current effect needs to agree on by each German state and then finally submitted to the European Commission for final approval before it is valid.

It is expected that the legislation shouldn’t change too significantly from the information already released to the public, though gambling fans awaiting its approval should be wary that more gambling restrictions may be included.

An Exciting Future

Since the announcement of the legislation change, the Darmstadt Regional Council have received over 30 applications from companies hoping to gain the new online casino and betting license, with experts predicting that at least another 20 applications will be submitted.